[alainl]

Hey guys. So i asked for help with the hd 598's and you guys were very helpful, i appreciate it. After hearing the HD 598's.. I was really happy and will never buy gaming headseta ever again, al though the g4me zero's from senn are not too bad.

I decided i'm going to get myself the HD 600's for my PC. I have a sound blaster z which apparently has a good DAC and decent amp i suppose (supposedly drives up to 600 ohms). I'm going to test it on the sound blaster, but i know it won't go nowhere near it's peak with it. So my question here is.. I seem pretty set on the DAC the sound blaster uses, but i would like to upgrade on an to go with it; what amp can go well with the SBZ?

 

[NA Blur]

I would first see how the HD600 sounds with your current setup. You may really like it. Typically if the amp is the weak link the bass will tend to either be very weak or boomy. The HD600 on up are headphones that sound better the louder they get so if you typically listen at lower volumes you may think that your amp is the issue when it is really the HD600.
 
The Schiit Magni and Valhalla both help the sound of the HD600 and are somewhat affordable high quality amps.
 
The resistance, Ohms as you put it, is not really a cause for lack of power. It is almost always more about the efficiency / sensitivity. The resistance plays more of a roll in the bass because as the resistance of the headphone increases it is harder for the amp to control the fundamental resonance of the driver which is where the peak of the resistance is located.
 
I hope you enjoy the HD600 as it is one of the best headphones out there.

 

[alainl]

Yeah, I keep hearing about the Schiit stacks. Most mention the modi/magni stack, but I like yours better. The Valhalla seems to be better. If I can go for the Valhalla 2, should i go for that?

 

[NA Blur]

High impedance headphones like most of the high-end Sennheisers sound great from the Valhalla 2. It is a very musical amp.

 

[PurpleAngel]

Yeah, I keep hearing about the Schiit stacks. Most mention the modi/magni stack, but I like yours better. The Valhalla seems to be better. If I can go for the Valhalla 2, should i go for that?

 
The SB-Z's Front Speaker output is better at feeding a signal to an external headphone amplifier, then the SB-Z's headphone output jack.
But the SB-Z can not send it's SBX Headphone surround sound thru the Front Speaker jack, which is not really an issue if your really just listening to music.
 
Might try reading up and asking questions about the HD600, on this thread.
http://www.head-fi.org/t/538255/sennheiser-hd-600-impressions-thread

 

[alainl]

Thanks, yeah, idc about the surround sound even though i game a lot. The i should still be able to pin point sound.

 

[alainl]

I'm actually going to go ahead and order the magni 2 uber, cause i have a gut feeling they won't be driven too well by the sound card. So i'll do sbz --> magni 2u --> hd600

 

[NA Blur]

Sweet! Would you be willing to post a comparison once you get everything settled? I am sure a few other people have this question as well.

 

[alainl]

Of course

 

[Billy Joel]

Hey, I'm currently using a Soundblaster Z and want to get the Sennheiser HD600's, did you conclude that it is worth it to get the amp, or is the sound card able to handle the headphones well without lack of quality?

 

[techboy]

I haven't used either product, but I do have experience with a few similar products.

If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't buy the Magni 2 in place of the SB. I would go for a higher OTL or hybrid amp straight. Only then would you find the difference to be really worth it.

Get either of the below:

Anything by Garage1217
Schiit Vali 2 or Valhalla2 or Lyr 2
Anything by DarkVoice
Etc

 

[alainl]

Hey, I'm currently using a Soundblaster Z and want to get the Sennheiser HD600's, did you conclude that it is worth it to get the amp, or is the sound card able to handle the headphones well without lack of quality?

I completely removed the SBZ, the uber 2 stack blows the sbz out of the water

 

[PurpleAngel]

I completely removed the SB-Z, the Uber 2 stack blows the SB-Z out of the water.

 
By "Uber 2 stack" do you mean you bought both the Schiit amp and Schiit DAC?
Which model DAC did you get (Uber or USB)?

 

[alainl]

By "Uber 2 stack" do you mean you bought both the Schiit amp and Schiit DAC?
Which model DAC did you get (Uber or USB)?

Both uber editions, dude, lol. Schiit magni 2 uber and schiit modi 2 uber. I specifically have it through USB for my pc

 

[PurpleAngel]

Both Uber editions, dude, LoL. Schiit Magni 2 Uber and Schiit Modi 2 Uber. I specifically have it through USB for my PC

 
I would have assumed if you bought the Modi 2 Uber, you would have connected it to the SB-Z's optical port (that's what I would have done).
But as you had removed the SB-Z card and connected with USB, you might have gotten the non-Uber (USB only) Modi 2, (along with the Magni 2 Uber).
 
Seems like you feel the Schiit stack offers audio quality improvement over the SB-Z, Cool